Automatic book section feeder



Sept. 7, 1965 F. CHRISTENSEN ETAL 3,204,784

AUTOMATIC BOOK SECTION FEEDER Filed April 5, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 48 I5 H l4 1m 2 l2 I3 42 22 m 12 i 25 MI i v I 38 \l\ W 36 I H 9 i 21 FIGURE FIGURE 2 FERDINAND CHRISTENSEN MELVIN KAVIN LOUIS PIETER INVENTOR.

WWI/577% FIGURE 7 P 1965 F. CHRISTENSEN ETAL 3,204,784

AUTOMATIC BOOK SECTION FEEDER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 5, 1962 FIGURE 3 FERDINAND CHRISTENSEN MELVIN KAVIN LOUIS PIETER FIGURE 4 INVENTOR BY M Z Sept. 7, 1965 F. CHRISTENSEN ETAL 3,204,784

AUTOMATIC BOOK SECTION FEEDER Filed April 5, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 FERDINAND CHRISTENSEN MELVIN KAVIN LOUIS PIETER INVENTOR. 65a 4 TO MOTOR 80-81 BY REVERSER 7 k FIGURE 8 United States Patent 3,204,734- AUTOMATIC BOOK SECTION FEEDER Ferdinand Christensen, 8990 Cypress St., South Gate,

Calif, Melvin Kavin, Long Beach, Calif. (1410 Catalina Ave., Seal Beach, Calif), and Louis Pieter, 2057 Heather Drive, Menterey Park, Calif.

Fiied Apr. 5, 1962, Ser. No. 185,383 6 Claims. (Cl. 214-85) This invention relates to bookbinding equipment, primarily for library binding, rebinding and prebinding, and more particularly to an automatic book section feeder and paster to be used in conjunction with an Oversewing machine.

Before a book or group of magazines can be oversewed, one of the steps in the rebinding process is to remove the folds on the backs of the books or magazines so that the books are reduced to a group of single sheets. A very light coat of adhesive is then applied to the back edges of this group of single sheets to hold them together. The groups of single sheets are then divided into sections for Oversewing. Dividing into sections is now accomplished by the use of a printers hand tool called a pad counter or by a series of staggered blades which are forced through the pile of sheets that are held together by the light coat of adhesive.

An individual section of sheets is picked up manually, the back edge is run over a paste wheel to apply a line of paste to the underside of the section close to the edge. The section is then turned over, so that the line of paste faces upward, and placed in the Oversewing machine. Each section is handled in this same manner until the entire group of sections which comprise the volume to be sewed have been inserted into the Oversewing machine.

This invention conceives a machine which has an automatically adjustable hopper to receive the pages of a book volume which has had its back folds removed. The loose pages held together with adhesive. The machine of this invention automatically removes one section from the volume of pages, turns it over, applies a line of paste and delivers it either to a table so that the operator can place it in the Oversewing machine or the table may articulate over and drop the section of pages directly into the Oversewing machine itself. The section of pages just dropped into the Oversewing machine is sewed to those sections previously dropped in and is then repeated until the complete volume is sewed.

The section feeder and paster of this invention is capable of being actuated by the Oversewing machine. Alternatively, the Oversewing machine and the section feeder and paster of this invention are capable of being operated independently of one another, or the operation of the Oversewing machine can trigger the section feeder and paster.

When a volume is placed in the hopper, the backplate thereof automatically moves the volume forward to operating position and when the last section has been removed from the hopper, the back plate automatically drops to the loading position. This allows the addition of a conveyer type feeder so that the operator does not have to load individual volumes into the hopper but can continue feeding sections to the Oversewing machine.

It is the purpose of this invention to provide a machine for automatically dividing a volume of pages of a book into sections. The book is placed in the hopper provided therefor and a sectioning blade is automatically inserted into the page stack to separate a selected section from the stack. The section is then placed on a receiving table from which it is inserted either manually or automatically into the Oversewing machine. While the blade returns to its starting position preparatory to dividing out the next section, a line of adhesive or glue is applied to the section now on the receiving table, while the back plate of the hopper is automatically moved up to bring the remaining pages in the hopper up to the level from which a section has just been taken. Alternatively, the line of glue may be applied at the sewing machine as the section is placed therein.

As has been mentioned above, a chain or conveyer feeding means may be incorporated with the invention to supply the section feeder with a new volume of pages as the sectioning of each prior volume is completed.

A feature of the invention is that each section of pages includes the same number of pages and the blade may be adjusted so that the section may include a desired number of pages.

The invention also contemplates means for automatically dropping the prepared sections into place in the sewing machine by providing the receiving table with an articulating action upon completion of the motion of the sectioning blade in placing the paper stack sectioned off onto the receiving table. The table is articulated so as to drop the section into the sewing machine on top of previously sewed together sections therein. The automatic features of the motion of the sectioning blade into and out of the page stack and their being articulated onto the receiving table, and the re-positioning of the stack preparatory to the next sectioning motion are in a preferred embodiment of the invention accomplished through the use of pneumatic piston drives and pressure actuated pilot valves, but may be equally well accomplished through the use of electrically driven cams, levers and/ or gears or hydraulic means.

Accordingly it is an object of the invention to provide means for dividing a prepared stack of pages into sections for binding in a book jacket.

7 It is a further object of the invention to provide an automatic book section feeder and paster which overcomes the problems inherent in uneven manual and mechanical but not automatic sectioning techniques of the present art by selecting uniform sections of book pages for insertion into a book sewing machine.

It is still another object to provide a book sectioner feeder operated by means of pneumatically or electrically operated control elements to insert a sectioning blade into a stack in page sections of predetermined thickness preparatory to their being assembled and sewed together.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide in an automatic book section feeder automatic means for applying glue to the individual sections for easier and better adhesion of the sections as they are sewed together.

These and other objects of the invention will become more clear from the specification which follows and the appended claims when taken together with the drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front view of the book section feeder according to this invention showing the position of the sectioning blade as it enters a page stack;

FIGURE 2 is a rear view of the book section feeder showing the mechanisms which operate the hopper book lifting action;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view taken from the right end showing details of the articulating and drive mechanism for the sectioning blade thereof;

FIGURE 4 is a more detailed view of the cycling drive and braking mechanism and the rear hopper plate setting mechanism of the book section feeder according to this invention;

FIGURE 5 shows in greater detail the blade positioning and articulating mechanism about to drop a section of pages onto the receiving table;

FIGURE 6 shows a left end view of the book section ment.

feeder to delineate the action of the articulating means for the sectioning blade thereof;

FIGURE 7 is a detail of an electrical driving means for the section feeder; and

FIGURE 8 is a circuit associated with the means shown in FIGURE 7.

In the figures, on a base 10, a horizontal blade carrier is mounted. The blade carrier includes parallel guide ways 11 and 12 stretched over the length of the front portion of the sectioner. Bar 11 of the ways is movable in an articulating relation about bar 12 of the ways. Bar 12 of the ways acts as a pivoting axis for the parallel guide ways 11 and 12 which are held together by waybar frame supports 13 and 14 at opposite ends thereof. Blade 15 is shown in FIGURE 1 to be part of an assembly which includes a bracket 24 and slides 25 and 26 slidably mounted on way-bars 11 and 12 and partially inserted into a stack of book pages 16 preparatory to the separation of the top section 27 (see FIGURE from the stack. This top section 27 is subsequently brought onto receiving table 17 after blade has completed its travel. Table 17 is supported on legs 18 on base 10. Above and behind receiving table 17 a movable hopper is provided including a back 20 and an end stop 19 wherein the book page stack 16 to be sectioned is placed.

Blade 15 is assembled to slides and 26 which are freely slidable on ways 11 and 12. The position of blade 15 with respect to slides 25 and 26 may be clearly seen in FIGURE 5 to be such that blade 15 clears the base of hopper 19-20 in order to pull section 27 away from stack 16 as shown at 28. A pneumatic drive cylinder 22 is attached to ways 11, 12, 13, 14 to move blade 15 laterally on ways 11 and 12. Cylinder 22 has a piston rod 23 attached at one end thereof to bracket 24 and cylinder 22 is so attached to ways assembly 11, 12, 13, 14 as to articulate with them. Bracket 24 is rigidly attached to slide 25 so that bracket 24 may move along With blade 15.

Cylinder devices such as 22 which are used in this invention are double acting. The cylinders herein such as 22, 43, 55, etc. are pilot valve operated and they may be actuated either pneumatically, hydraulically or electrically. Thus, when a cylinder device such as 22 is actuated by the release of pressure as above described,

piston rod 23 is forced into cylinder 22 pulling bracket 24 to the left and thereby sliding blade 15 toward the left end for the sectioning action. In the opposite direction piston 23 is moved toward the right end of ways 11-12 towards bracket 13 after blade 15 has laid the section 27 onto table 17. During the return traverse left to right blade 15 moves in a horizontal plane. While in the forward direction (right to left, as illustrated in FIG- URE 1) blade 15 is vertical.

The pressure in cylinder 22 is released for operation of blade 15 to slide along ways 11-12 on its way slides 25- 26 towards way support bracket 14 upon the actuation of a pilot valve 38 by a foot pedal assembly, not shown (see FIGURE 4).

In the event that a device such as hereinabove described for feeding book sections to an Oversewing machine is used with such as Oversewing machine the operation of the device of this invention may be independently actuated or actuated in a sequence by the completion of an operation of the Oversewing machine. When independently actuated, the book section feeder operation may be initiated by a foot pedal as above set forth. There are many ways of coupling the section feeder of this invention to an Oversewing machine which would initiate the operation of the section feeder in an appropriate sequence of events in the operating cycle of the Oversewing equip- These may occur to those skilled in this art. Cylinder 22 is actuated by pilot valve 38 for right to left motion and by valve 37 for left to right motion through respective pneumatic piping 36-35 connected to valve 40 (shown in FIGURE 4) which actuates cylinder 22 and is coupled to it by appropriate air ducts or piping. Valve 40 is behind the frame support for ways '11-12. Piping 35 is coupled through release valve 75 to actuator valve 40 so that on return of ways 11-12 to the upward or vertical position trip, bar 76 may press upon the release button 65 thereof to release brake mechanism 48, 50 for actuation of page reset mechanism as further described below.

Referring now to FIGURE 3 the right hand perspective View shows the details of the articulating mechanism for ways 11-12.

An articulating lever 42 pivots on bar 12 to articulate sliding ways 1112 from the vertical to horizontal and return. Lever 42 is coupled to piston rod 44 of cylinder 43 by articulating pivot 46. Thus, when blade support bracket 25 reaches the end of its travel at the end of support frame 13 and hits pilot valve 71 on main blade cylinder valve 45 to return piston 23 of cylinder 22 towards the right pulling blade 15 back in a horizontal plane over the section 27 of pages which have just been laid on table 17 by the articulation over of ways 11-12 as above described.

The overall operation of the invention is best described through detailed consideration of its component parts and their function as shown in the figures as follows:

In the base of hopper 19-20 there is a pilot valve 61 (FIGURE 4). The operation of pilot valve 61 may also be accomplished with microswitches. When a stack of book pages 16 is placed on the release button of pilot valve or a microswitch 61, an actuator valve 56 is operated by the pilot valve so as to operate cylinders and 62. This results in forward motion of rack 54 to move the back 20 of hopper 19-20 up towards the front thereof, rotating pinion 53, shaft 52 and drum 47 until the top page of book page stack 16 hits bar 11 which in turn engages and actuates brake pilot valve (FIGURE 6) to apply pressure to brake 50 from brake actuator 48 against drum 47 stopping the rotation of drum 47, shaft 52, pinion 53 and movement of rack 54. As a result, book stack 16 in hopper 19-20 is in position to receive knife 15 for sectioning. The motion of back 20 may be actuated in place of cylinders 55 and 62 by a motor driven or hydraulic drive system.

A foot pedal is provided (but not shown) for the operator to actuate pilot valve 38 to actuate cylinder 22 to push blade 15 towards the left along ways 11-12 into stack 16. The depth of blade 15 into the stack 16 can 'be adjusted by a section thickness adjustment screw on the bottom end of blade support 26. This is hidden behind page section 27 in FIGURE 5 or FIGURE 1. As has been previously mentioned the initiating action for blade 15 can be provided as a function of an Oversewing machine used in conjunction with the invention.

Bracket 25 acts as a striker plate on the back end of blade 15 to hit valve which actuates articulating cylinder 43 and causes rocker arm 42 to pivot on shaft 12 as piston 44 is pushed toward the viewer (FIGURE 3). Bar 11 rot-ates about bar 12 to bring blade 15 over towards receiving table 17 to place the sliced out section 27 of pages 16 to the top of table 17 as may be seen in FIGURE 4.

At the instant that ways 11-12 articulate over into the horizontal plane, to lay pages 27 onto table 17, end support 13 of ways 11-12 strikes against the pilot valve 71 of main blade cylinder valve 45 (FIGURE 3) which actuates cylinder 22 to return piston 23 towards the right drawing blade 15 now horizontal along ways 1'1-12 to the right end of the sections where striker plate 25 hits valve 71 to actuate cylinder 43 drawing piston 44 into cylinder 43 (away from viewer FIGURE 3) articulating lever 42 to lift ways 11-12 upward back to their relatively vertical normal position ready for the next cycle of operation.

At the termination of travel of blade 15 left to right in the horizontal plane, and upon the return of ways 11 and 12 to the vertical, end bar 14 of ways 11-12 comes into contact with pilot valve 65 which releases brake 50 by actuation of cylinder 48 to lift the brake from drum 4-7 and to actuate cylinder 55 which in turn brings rack 54 up to move back plate sliding the remaining stack of pages 16 forward until (and immediately after ways 11 and 12 have returned to the vertical position) the front of the stack of pages 16 strikes against Slide bar 11 releasing brake pilot valve 65 which operates brake actuator 48 to push brake 50 against drum 47 to stop further forward motion of page stack 16 in hopper @420. Now the system is ready for a new operating cycle initiated by the action of a foot pedal (not shown) to actuate pilot valve 38 again as previously described.

In FIGURE 7 an alternative drive mechanism is shown wherein a brake solenoid 48a mounted on brake support 51 positioned so as to operate brake 59 against drum 47. A magnetic clutch 84- is attached to hub 49 of brake drum 47 which is on shaft 52, coupled with pinion 53.

In the previously described mode of operation pinion 53 was driven by rack 54 when rack 54 was actuated by pneumatic cylinders 55 and 62,.

In the embodiment of the invention shown, FIGURE 7, pinion 53 is driven by shaft 52 to move rack 54 and thus hopper back 2%. Shaft 52 will be moved when magnetic clutch 84 is actuated.

Magnetic clutch 84 is coupled to shaft 86 of a motor and reduction gear 85. When power is applied to motor and reduction gear 85 at its leads 80fi1 the motor rotates constantly in one direction but may be reversed for returning hopper back 20 to loading position when a book stack of pages has been sectioned. In the forward direction the motor 85 rotates constantly turning clutch 84 but not shaft 52 unless clutch 84 is actuated.

In FIGURE 8 a circuit diagram is shown of the electrical connections by which clutch 84 and motor and gear reduction 85 are operated.

In FIGURE 8 actuator pins 90 and 91 may be seen to be protruding through back 20 of hopper 19-21) so that when book page stack 16 is placed in hopper 19-21) the page stack presses against actuator pins 90-91. Pin 90 is attached to microswitch 61a (replacing pilot valve actuator 61 of FIGURE 4) which is normally open and closes when paper stack 16 presses on actuator pin 90. Pin 91 is attached to normally closed microswitch 61b so that when paper stack 16 presses on actuator 91 switch 615 is open.

Switch 650 is mounted in place of pilot valve actuator 65 shown in FIGURE 6. Switch 61a is connected with brake solenoid 4811. Switch 6117 is connected with electromagnetic clutch 34. An actuator pin 92 is coupled with switch 65a so that it is maintained closed so long as bar 11 and end bracket 14 contact pin 92. Otherwise switch 65a is open.

From the above it may be seen that at the starting position with hopper back 24) in the ready-to-receive-abook-stack condition pins 90 and 91 protrude through back 20, switch 61a is open and switch 61b is closed. Bar 11 and end bracket 1 press against pin 92 to maintain switch 65a closed also. When a paper stack 16 is placed in hopper 19-29 switch 61a closes to actuate brake solenoid 43a which pushes brake 50 against drum 47. The pressure on drum 47 continues until the last pages of stack 16 are removed. Note that a pair contacts 93 on switch 61a are closed in the absence of a page stack 16, and open when a stack 16 is placed in hopper 1920 because actuator pin 90 operates contacts 93 as well as those at 61a. Contacts 93 operate a motor reverser switch. When actuator pin 91? is unimpeded (absence of paper stack 16) contacts 93 are closed and motor 85 is operated to move hopper back 29 to the receiving position ready for a next stack of pages 16. When stack 16 is in place pin 91) opens contacts 93 for forward motion of motor 85.

The operation of contacts 61b and 65a may be seen to be as follows. So long as either switch contacts 65a or 61b are closed magnetic clutch 84 is activated. In the activated condition clutch 84 moves hub 49 of drum 48 and operates shaft 52. When a stack of pages is in hopper 1921) pin 91 is operated to open switch 61b but bar 11 and end support 14 still close switch 65a. Thus clutch 84 is actuated and motor 85 turns brake drum 47 against pressure of brake 50 so long as either 65a or 61b is closed. Switch 6112 is open when a paper stack is in hopper 1920. Switch 65a is open when paper stack 16 and 27 press against bar 11 and lift end bracket 14 from switch 65a releasing clutch 84. Brake 50 holds drum 47 in place.

The advantage of having brake 50 applying constant pressure on drum 47 and working motor 85 and solenoid drive 84 against this pressure is that small increments of motion to lift back 20 towards bar 11 are possible with a high degree of precision. This resets the stack 16 for the next sectioning operation. Therefore by this technique a desired number of pages 27 such as the quantity 15, or 16, or l7 can be sectioned off accurately each time blade 15 goes into stack 16 to select the section 27.

Actuator pins 90, 91 and 92 are all adjustable for the extent of their travel necessary to effect the operation of switches 61a, 61b and 65a.

The method described above is just one means of effecting automatic resetting of back 20 each time a section 27 of pages is lifted from stack 16. Others may occur to those familiar with the electrical switching and control of motive devices.

There has been described hereinabove a novel book sectioning apparatus wherein a slidable knife blade is inserted into a stack of book pages to slice ou a section of the stack of pages to lay them on a table preparatory to oversewing. The pages are subsequently dropped onto an oversewing machine for sewing along with previously selected sections. The device of this invention provides for automatic repositioning of the remaining pages of the stack preparatory for slicing out the next section and for automatic return of the blade to a starting position. While not shown in the drawings hereof, the invention may be used in conjunction with a chain or rotary feed mechanism to supply new stacks of pages such as 16 when each previous stack in hopper 1921) has been sectioned by blade 15. Also table 17 may be articulatable on its support legs 18 so that when blade 15 has completed its return traverse to the right after laying page section 27 down on table 17, table 17 may be tipped over articulating on an axis beneath the table and following a path horizontally between legs 18. Table 17 when it tips over, can be so positioned that page section 27 is dropped into place on top of previous sections in the Oversewing machine previously mentioned.

As another form of operation of the advance and retraction mechanism for the back 20 of hopper 19-20 the progressive forward motion of back 20 as previously described can be accomplished by the operation of clutch (FIGURES 7 and 8), upon the removal of each section 27 of pages 16. For retraction of back .20 upon completion of the sectioning of a stack the cylinder 55 would be used and actuated by the contacting of back 20 and slide bar 11 when no further pages remain in the hopper 19-21). Alternatively switch 93 (now shown in FIGURE 8) can be actuated to operate the pilot valve for cylinder 55 to retract back 20.

On the return of blade 15 two functions may be performed by items not shown herein but operatively coupled with the blade mechanism 15, 25, 26. One of these is the pasting operating. A wheel which is in art within a reservoir of adhesive is attached to support member 26 for blade 15 (as seen in FIGURE 1) so that while blade 15 moves on the return traverse (left to right) in the horizontal plane the wheel runs along the surface near the edge of the section 27 of pages, now lying on table 17 (as may be seen in FIGURE 4), to apply the adhesive thereto.

As a further function this wheel may be so constructed as to score the surface near the edge of page section 27 while lying on table 17 so as to make the pages more flexible when the sections are reassembled. This provides easier turning of pages of the finished book.

What is claimed as new is: 1. A book sectioner comprising: means for holding therein a stack of book pages to be sectioned; guide means aligned laterally beneath said means for holding and having operative means coupled therewith adapted to articulatesaid guide means. from a vertical to a horizontal position when said operative means is actuated; a receiving table; and slidable sectioning means positioned vertically on said guide means in relation to said means for holding and being adapted to selectively separate a desired top section of said pages from said stack, said sectioning means being vertical on said guide means when sliding into said stack and remaining vertical on said guide means and being movable with said guide means to a horzontal position when said sectioning means is fully inserted into said stack by the articulation of said guide means to place the sectioned pages on said receiving table. 2. A book sectioner comprising: hopper means for stacking therein a stack of book pages to be sectioned; articulating slide ways aligned laterally beneath said hopper; blade means, slidably positioned on said ways in relation to said stack of pages so as to be selectively insertable into said stack; blade drive means coupled with said blade means to move said blade on said ways; articulating means coupled with said slide ways for articulating said ways to a vertical and a horizontal position; and hopper back plate drive means, including braking means therefor to terminate motion of said back plate upon the completion of an operating cycle of said sectioner. 3. In a book sectioner a resettable hopper means for stacking therein a stack of book pages to be sectioned;

articulating slide ways aligned laterally beneath said hopper, said ways being normally vertical, and having mean-s associated therewith for moving said ways from the vertical to a horizontal position and return; blade means, slidable on said ways in relation to said stack of pages, said blade means being selectively insertable into said stack to separate a predetermined number of said pages from said stack, said blade means having a normal vertical position and being movable to a horizontal position as said articulating ways move to a horizontal position at the end of travel of said blade; and pneuamtic blade drive means coupled with said blade means to move said blade on said ways. 4. A book sectioner comprising: an automatically resettable hopper for containing a stack of book pages to be sectioned; a table positioned beneath said hopper in receiving elation for accepting sectioned pages from said stack; sectioning means, having a normal starting position and an extreme position, said sectioning means being slidably positionable between said starting and said extreme positions to be placed in relation to said stack of pages to separate a predetermined number of said pages from said stack at said extreme position and to place said predetermined number of pages on said table, and thereafter return to said starting position;

drive means coupled with said sectioning means to move said sectioning means into said stack from said starting position to said extreme position to articulate said sectioning means to place said pages on said table and return; and

hopper resetting means coupled with said sectioning means and responsive to the positions thereof to reset said hopper, when said predetermined number of pages has been removed, preparatory to a new cycle of operation.

5. A book sectioning apparatus comprising:

an automatically resettable hopper adapted to receive therein a stack of book pages to be sectioned;

articulatable guide ways aligned laterally beneath said hopper;

a receiving table located beneath said hopper and sectioning blade means, slidably mounted on said guide ways in such relation to said stack of pages as to be insertable into said stack to separate a predetermined number of said pages from said stack and articulatable with said guide ways at the end of travel of said blade means to deposit predetermined number of pages on said receiving table;

pedal activated drive means coupled with said blade means to move said blade on said ways into said stack of pages, and automatically return said blade to the starting position thereof after said pages have been laid on said table;

automatic articulating means coupled with said guide Ways and including means positioned with respect to said ways and said blade and being responsive to the positions of said guide Ways and said blade to activate said articulatable guide ways; and

hopper setting drive and braking mechanism coupled with said guide ways and responsive to the position of said stack of book pages and to the position of said guide ways to drive the back plate of said hopper to reposition said stack therein preparatory to the indication of a new cycle of operation.

6. A book sectioner comprising:

hopper means for stacking therein a stack of book pages to be sectioned, said hopper means having means coupled therewith for moving the remaining pages of said stack forward as each section of pages is removed therefrom;

articulating slide ways aligned vertically and positioned laterally beneath said hopper;

blade means, slidably positioned on said ways in relation to said stack of pages so as to be selectively insertable into said stack to separate a desired top section of said pages from said stack, said blade being normally vertical with said ways during insertion of said blade into said stack and being moved to a horizontal position as said articulating ways are moved to a horizontal position at the end of travel of said blade;

pneumatic blade drive means coupled with said blade means to move said blade on said ways;

pneumatic articulating means coupled with said ways for articulating said Ways from said normally vertical to said horizontal position when said blade has been fully inserted into said stack;

pneumatic hopper back plate drive means operable inresponse to the completion of the insertion of said blade into said stack; and

braking means coupled to said back plate drive means and including means responsive to said position of said remaining pages to be sectioned in said hopper means to terminate the operation of said back plate 9 drive means to reset said sectioner for a new cycle 2,690,156 of operation. 2,829,570

References Cited by the Examiner 387,205 UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 1,013,156

1,847,812 3/32 Burton et a1. 2,241,817 .5/41 Howard 9353 9/54 Shields 118242X 4/58 Pearce 93-933 FOREIGN PATENTS 5/08 France. 8/57 Germany.

RICHARD D. NEVIUS, Primary Examiner. 

1. A BOOK SECTIONER COMPRISING: MEANS FOR HOLDING THERIN A STACK OF BOOK PAGES TO BE SECTIONED; GUIDE MEANS ALIGNED LATERALLY BENEATH SAID MEANS FOR HOLDING AND HAVING OPERATIVE MEANS COUPLED THEREWITH ADAPTED TO ARTICULATE SAID GUIDE MEANS FROM A VERTICAL TO A HORIZONTAL POSITION WHEN SAID OPERATIVE MEANS IS ACTUATED; A RECEIVING TABLE; AND SLIDABLE SECTIONING MEANS POSITIONED VERTICALLY ON SAID GUIDE MEANS IN RELATION TO SAID MEANS FOR HOLDING AND BEING ADAPTED TO SELECTIVELY SEPARATE A DESIRED TOP SECTION OF SAID PAGES FROM SAID STACK, SAID SECTIONING MEANS BEING VERTICALLY ON SAID GUIDE MEANS WHEN SLIDING INTO SAID STACK AND REMAINING VERTICAL ON SAID GUIDE MEANS AND BEING MOVABLE WITH SAID GUIDE MEANS TO A HORZONTAL POSITION WHEN SAID SECTIONING MEANS IS FULLY INSERTED INTO SAID STACK BY THE ARTICULATION OF SAID GUIDE MEANS TO PLACE THE SECTIONED PAGES ON SAID RECEIVING TABLE. 